“The Nature Project” film campaign
by environmental science and media communications students, Jennifer, Graham, Madeleine, Holly and Joshua; with mentors Zhan and Tanya.
JEN, JOSH, MADDIE, GRAHAM & HOLLY (21-24 years)
As all members of this group are undertaking courses in environmental science and have always felt a strong connection with nature, it made sense to get involved in a project like this. We believe that engagement with nature encourages positive mental health and physical health. We have often found it difficult to engage in outdoor activities with acquaintances, as there tends to be a stigmatized view of the outdoors. We feel that many people our age and between the ages of 15-25 are growing increasingly disconnected from nature. With all the distractions around, people tend to forget just how good it is to get outdoors. We all have fond memories of camping, bush walking, exploring from childhood and that has influenced all of us greatly in our passion for nature. Some people don’t have the same upbringing and may not view nature the same way we do.
THE PROJECT
Our project is to increase the accessibility of nature to young people and to capitalize on the idea of ‘Biophilia’, the belief that every human has an innate connection with nature.
The Nature Project aims to encourage 15-25 year olds to spend at least one day in nature a week. This has been shown to have positive influences on mental and physical health as well as increasing personal values in caring for nature.
Our project involves a multi stage engagement program which aims to first inspire, then to enable and lastly to encourage.
This will be achieved by firstly releasing a short video, around three minutes long, which can be viewed on various media platforms (YouTube, vimeo, Facebook). The video aims to inspire people by showing exciting and accessible nature experiences around the Sydney metropolitan area, and to try to evoke an emotional connection.
Linked to this video, a blog will follow which will enable people to access these places through photographs and simple down to earth instructions on how to access these sites. We feel through our first hand experiences that one of the main obstacles in youth accessing nature is the daunting idea of getting lost or not knowing what to do. This blog will also appeal to people emotionally and steer away from the fact-based often confusing information which is currently out there.
BACKGROUND
The motivation stemmed from a report Jennifer wrote for her university degree, which detailed the idea of biophilia and the interactions between humans and the environment. This idea, that every single human on earth has an innate connection with nature, which can be lost in the fast pace of modern life. The idea then evolved into putting forth a short film that could inspire this biophilia within people of our generation.
There is existing information out there that aims to help people get out into nature. For example, National Parks websites have information of bush walks available etc. We feel a lot of this information is too fact based, it doesn’t engage or inspire. The information is aimed at people of all ages; therefore it lacks engagement of young people. We want to create an informational platform through a blog and social media platform, which will appeal to people of the younger generation.
WHAT WE’VE DONE SO FAR
Our film storyboard outlines numerous nature activities such as watching the sunrise, surfing, snorkelling, bushwalking, visiting waterfalls, canyoning, rock climbing and a range of others. The aim is to showcase the various activities that nature has to offer. Not everyone will enjoy a long bush walk, therefore we have included activities for all types of people.
We have managed to engage many friends and family in the outdoors just through our acquisition of footage, which has encouraged and inspired us to work towards this goal. We have been taking footage in the Blue Mountains, northern beaches, Royal National Park and Malabar. We extended invitations to family and friends and possible interested parties to join us on our outdoor trips and were very pleased with the participation rate. We were able to take several people to Curracurrang waterfall in the Royal National Park and more people to Empress Falls Canyon in the Blue Mountains. We have had positive feedback from our own social media accounts, with many people asking where photos were taken and how to get there. This shows people do have a genuine interest, they just lack knowledge in how to get there.
We also hope to partner up with a mental health organisation and encourage those struggling with mental health issues to engage with nature. We feel that by simply getting out into nature, breathing fresh air, being out in the sunlight, doing moderate exercise and viewing the natural world around you can be a form of therapy for people suffering with mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.
We aim to have all of our footage together by the end of July, so that the editing process can begin. We will start to share photos on Instagram and teaser videos relating to the film about a month prior to the date of releasing the film. The blog will be a continuous project; the nature sites included in the video will be outlined on the blog prior to the film being released so that people can look at how to get to the sites.
